OBA tournament

The Amherstburg Cardinals hit the road Labour Day weekend for their OBA tournament but didn’t come home with the result they wanted.

The Sr. Cardinals went 1-2 in the tournament, played in Port Lambton. The second loss knocked them out of the tournament.

Things started well for Amherstburg, as the Cardinals defeated Clearview 8-1 in the first game, getting 11 hits in the process.

In the second game, the Cardinals lost to Bolton 6-3.

“That’s a game we felt we were a better team,” said Cardinals infielder Nick Price. “We just couldn’t hit.”

The Amherstburg Cardinals senior team played at The Corner Ballpark July 2. It is the former Tiger Stadium site. They also went 1-2 at the recent OBA tournament (Submitted photo)

In their third game, Amherstburg played Harrow.

“They beat us 6-4, said Price. “We had an hour rain delay going into the seventh inning. We scored three runs in the top of the seventh but couldn’t complete the comeback.”

Despite the OBA tournament being over, the season is not for the Sr. Cardinals as the Essex County Senior League (ECSL) playoff tournament is later this month. The Cardinals host Harrow Sept. 21 at the Libro Centre at 7 p.m. for their first playoff game.

The bulk of the ECSL playoff tournament will be in Amherstburg this year, with the championship to be decided at the Libro Centre Sept. 23. Tecumseh is scheduled to have a home game Sept. 21 and there will be two games in Harrow Sept. 22 but the remainder of the games are slated for the Libro Centre’s premier diamond.

The Amherstburg Cardinals senior baseball team didn’t open the Essex County Senior League playoffs in the manner they were hoping.

The Harrow Blues came to the Libro Centre last Wednesday night and defeated Amherstburg 4-1.

The Blues left the bases loaded in the first inning and runners on second and third base in the second only to come away empty handed. Amherstburg opened the scoring in the bottom half of the second inning. Matt Bassingthwaighte crossed home plate thanks to an RBI single from Cole Lepine.

Third baseman Brady Levack throws to first base during last Wednesday night’s game against Harrow.

Harrow finally broke through in the sixth inning with four runs and were able to keep the Cardinals off the board the rest of the way.

“That was a good game,” commented Amherstburg manager Dennis Ouellette after the game. “It boiled down to two pitches. That was the difference in the game – two pitches.”

The Cardinals travel to Port Lambton for their OBA tournament Labour Day weekend. Following the OBA tournament, the best-of-three series will resume. The Cardinals won their OBA tournament last year.

Matt Bassingthwaighte high-fives his teammates after scoring a run for the Cardinals in the second inning.

Currently, the second game of the tournament will be Sept. 9 in Harrow at 5 p.m. If necessary, the third and deciding game of the series would be Sept. 10 in Amherstburg at 3 p.m.